Chairperson’s Welcome
Dear Members, Stakeholders, Practitioners, and industry Affiliates,
February has been a significant month on the South African calendar, with both SONA and the budget Speech taking place, as well as the announcement of the date for our national elections – 29 May 2024.
Budget 2024
The stage has been set in that we know what Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has to work with:
Government’s current gross loan debt as a percentage of GDP (around74%) is the highest since 1947 and one out every five rands earned from tax is now spent on debt payments. More money is spent on debt payments than on basic education or health.
Thanks in part to the GFECTRA boon (R150 billion), government borrowings will decline from R553 billion this year to R429 billion by2026. Gross government debt is now expected to stabilise at around75% next year – lower than the almost 78% it expected previously.
Its debt problem was caused by too much spending – especially on civil servant wages – and worsened by a 14% drop in corporate income tax collections in the first ten months of the financial year. – News 24